


Getting the whole picture

by Sheela



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Drinking, Drowning, F/M, Fluff, Grief/Mourning, Hide and Seek, POV Alternating, Romance, Teen Romance, Time Travel
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-07-27
Updated: 2005-07-27
Packaged: 2018-01-06 09:47:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1105352
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sheela/pseuds/Sheela
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"It takes years to really, really know somebody – and even then you can never be sure you get the complete picture." Well if there's one thing the Doctor's got plenty of it's time. So he sets out see his companion's past.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Getting the whole picture

**Author's Note:**

> I challenged myself to use different perspectives in the different scenes. Great, now I'm not just content to write the stories and get the voices in my head to shut up for a little while, but I actually have to go and try out different styles on you. Wanna tell me how I did?

Afterglow, he mused, had to be one of nature's most perfect inventions. Well, the most perfect thing after the thing before the afterglow, of course. The man (who wasn't even really a man to begin with) grinned devilishly. It was amazing how such a basic biological act could still be so perfect and absolutely amazing, so satisfying and heart warming – in short: fantastic.

He lazily placed a small kiss on his partner's exposed shoulder and simultaneously took the opportunity to breathe in her scent.

"Now I officially know everything about you!" he announced with a tone of great accomplishment. The woman in his arms turned to face him.

"D'you really think so? You haven't known me for that long."

"Oh, but I'd certainly think so. I know how you drink your tea and how you like your morning toast. I know the dimple you get when you really, really smile and the twinkle in your eyes that goes with it. I know the tone of your voice when you get pissed off and how you grow quiet and tense when you are upset about something. I've seen you drunk on way too much of whatever that glowing blue drink was and I've witnessed the hangover that resulted from it. I know how your hair sticks in all directions when you've just gotten out of bed and how your skin glows in meteorite shower. I know you prefer peanut butter over jam and that you like Bert better than Ernie. I know you're one of the kindest people I've ever met, but you'll ruthlessly smash any spider that gets too close to you. I've seen you dance naked to Gloria Gaynor and cry over a Vendran kitsch romance novel. I watched you fearlessly brave eleven near apocalypses and twenty-four other close calls but I know you'll hide behind pillow when you're watching a horror movie. I've kissed every inch of your body and I've smelt both your morning breath and your hair when you just stepped out of the shower. I know that tiny mole just left of your right breast and the scar at the base of your pinkie. I can make you babble and scream and – which is the biggest accomplishment of all, I think – I know three spots that will actually leave you lost for words. See, I'd say, I know pretty much everything about you."

"And I thought you didn't do domestic," she teased with a grin.

"You're the only one I'll make that exception for; but you get my point."

"Hmm… I also know that you are completely wrong. You don't know half about me."

"I don't?"

"You don't."

"Well, then enlighten me," he demanded.

"I can't. It takes years to really, really know somebody – and even then you can never be sure you get the complete picture. I am nineteen years old. The person that I've become is a result of all those nineteen years, a whole bunch of small and big things that formed and still form the whole me. There are tons of things you don't know about me."

"Like what?" His curiosity was definitely raised now. "Give me examples. What things formed you?"

"Things like the lullaby that my mum used to sing to me when I was a baby, or my teddy's name. The first time I rode my bicycle all alone and promptly fell off and scrapped my knees. The dress I refused to take off for three weeks when I was five. My favourite ice cream when I was a kid. The first time I kissed a boy in elementary school. The day my best friend's family moved away and I cried for days because I thought my world had ended. The time I almost burned down Mickey's house. Which boy band did I have my first crush on as a teenager? Who was my first time with, and who was my first heartbreak? Or my pet hamster and the day I accidentally stepped on him and killed him. The first time I snuck home drunk in the middle of the night. The day I almost drowned; the reason why I dropped out of school after my GCSEs. The list goes on and on, but don't you see? You don't know half about what makes me who I am."

"So I see. Get up."

"What?"

"Get up, get dressed, out of bed with you, now!" he urged, poking her in the ribs.

"Why?" she exclaimed.

"Hurry!" With a manic grin and very mischievous twinkle the man jumped out of bed and threw her formerly discarded clothes at her. While she was still in the midst of getting dressed, he already ushered her out of the room.  
Less than ten minutes later she was sat in posh space bar, with a cocktail in her hand and facing a spectacular view over a planet that glowed in ten different shades of pink and purple.

"Stay here and enjoy yourself. I'll be back in a minute!" he ordered her, before he ran off.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting to know you!" he shouted before he disappeared round the corner. The faint, warping sound of a dematerialising police box announced his departure.

* * *

The blonde woman stood at her husband's grave, fighting back the tears. She would not cry, not this time.

It had been three months since the day that the man she loved had just run out of a church for no apparent reason and was hit and killed by a car.

'Stupid bastard, why did he have to run out like that?' she ranted in her own head. 'Why didn't he look where he was going? Probably had had his head in the clouds as usual. Silly idiot. God, how I miss him!'

The tears were coming again now and she could not stop them. Like so many times before she knelt in front of the grave, crying in desperation.

It was only when the noise of stirring came from the slightly battered, cheap buggy behind her that the grieving woman forced herself to calm down. With a teary smile and sniff she got up and bent over the buggy. Reaching into it she carefully lifted out her crying daughter.

"Oh my little darling! Don't you cry," she whispered. "Shh now. There's no need for that." With the baby secure in her arms the woman gently rocked her, even as the little girl's crying turned into definite wailing, which echoed across the near empty graveyard.

"Shh, hush now my little one. Everything will be fine. Shh." With a slightly tear strained voice the young mother began to sing. "Hush-a-bye don't you cry. / Go to sleep-y, little baby. / When you wake you shall have / All the pretty little horses…"

After less than one minute the baby's cries notably quieted down. Full brown eyes stared up at the singing face above them in fascination. Slowly the crying merged into simple gurgling. And then, between the singing and the constant rocking motion, the child fell asleep once more, even as her mother softly sang on for a little longer.

Eventually the woman carefully placed her daughter back into her buggy and made her way towards the graveyard's exit. Nodding a silent acknowledgement to the strange man in the dark jacket standing next to a gravestone near the path, she left quickly.

Tomorrow she wouldn't cry, she told herself firmly as she passed the gate.

She did not see the man's eyes following her and her daughter until they disappeared from his sight.

* * *

Breathing harshly, she quickly ducked behind a bush. He wouldn't find her here. He wouldn't get them! She pressed a shaking hand against her chest, trying to calm her wildly fluttering heart. She would be safe here, or so she hoped.

The wild, frantic trampling of footsteps announced her enemy's approach. Holding her breath, she ducked even lower.

'You can't see me. You won't find me. You can't see me, you won't find me!' The mantra raced through her head.

The formerly running pair of feet stopped directly in front of her hiding place. She clutched her most prized possession closer to her chest, trying to draw some comfort from it.

"You can't hide forever, you know!" Her follower hollered, his head whipping around, trying to spot her. She bit her lips to keep from whimpering and held absolutely still. "You won't escape! I'm gonna find you in the end!"

However, seeing that he was receiving no reply to his threat, the enemy eventually ran off. She breathed a deep sigh of relief as he disappeared from sight. She was safe now!

Then somebody loudly cleared his throat, directly behind her. Startled she jumped up and whirled around to see who had snuck up on her. She looked up and up – and up and up. It was a giant, tall and imposing as he towered over her.

She felt her eyes go wide and bit her lips in fear. Everything about him was gigantic. He had a giant body, giant hands, giant head, giant teeth, giant nose and giant ears. He had a fierce scowl on his face. He would surely eat her any second now! A small, frightened squeak escaped her lips involuntarily.

He swooped forward, directly towards her, prepared to swallow her in one big bite.

'This is the end!' she thought in panic, squeezing her eyes shut and preparing to die.

"Hi there!" She heard the giant rumble and carefully opened her eyes a bit. The giant had stopped his attack mere inches in front of her and was staring intently at her. Suddenly his face broke into a wide grin, and it changed everything about him. Instantly he didn't seem quite so menacing and dangerous anymore, even if he still was huge.

Tentatively, she dared to smile back and breathed a soft "hi," back.

The giant knelt down in front of her, folding himself in half.

"That's a lovely dress you got there." Involuntarily she looked, grabbing the rim of her bright red dress.

"'s me favourite," she mumbled.

"I can see why. It's very pretty." The giant's grin grew impossibly wider, his eyes piercing hers.

"And who's this squashed brown mass?" he asked, signalling towards the treasure she was still clutching to her chest tightly.

Carefully she moved her arm a fraction to the side, so the giant could see what she was holding. "'s me teddy."

"Oh, I see. It's been quite a while since I had one of them. Does he have a name?"

She moved her head, barely interpretable as a nod.

"Will you tell me what he's called?"

Another nod.

"Well?"

"Teddy."

The giant's wild laughter shook the earth around them. "Brilliant name! Fantastic!"

Then the giant stood up to this full, very impressive height again. "It's getting late. Maybe you should go home now. Your friend's not going to find you here on his own. You're too clever."

She nodded, feeling her blonde twin pigtails slap against her neck.

"Off you go then."

Obediently she jumped up and sped off, turning around only briefly to wave a cheerful goodbye to the giant. Racing along the street, with Teddy clutched tightly against her chest, she hollered.

"Mickey, you lose! Now give me that whistle you promised!"

* * *

The London Globe 23rd April 1995

Page 17

Chemical Fire in Council Estate

The inhabitants of the Powell Council  
estate in London were given a severe  
scare last night by a chemical fire. At  
3.40pm the local fire department  
received several calls reporting severe  
smoke and a strong smell of chemicals  
coming out of one of the apartments  
on the third floor in the Brucknall  
House. The fire fighters at the scene  
rescued two children, aged 9 and 13  
years old, from the premises. Both  
children have been treated for the  
effects of smoke inhalation and have  
suffered no permanent physical harm.  
The apartment however, sustained  
smoke and fire damage totalling  
£2,500 and the estate's inhabitants  
were evacuated from their homes  
for three hours until the acid smell  
cleared.

Officials initially suspected a case of  
arson due to reports of a "tall, dark  
haired, middle aged man," who was  
seen lurking in the nearby area,  
apparently watching the local children.  
However, it was later discovered that  
the fire was the result of the rescued  
children's science experiments, which  
apparently involved the mixing and  
heating of several different household  
cleansing agents.

The "suspicious lurker" has not been  
identified so far, and for safety reasons  
the police advise people in the area to  
keep a watchful eye on their children.

* * *

_'Maybe I should have picked a different spot. It's quite cramped in here, but where else would we go? It's not like we can do this at home, and nobody would rent out a hotel room to us - not that I can afford a hotel room to begin with._

_'Anyway, the backseat's a classic, like Charlie said..._

_''T was nice of him to lend me his car for tonight..._

_'God, she smells so good… hmmm, and strawberry lip-gloss. I like it. Hmmm …_

_'Now how do I get this open… damn! Oh hell! I thought a man invented these. You'd think he could have found an easier way to open a bra to go with it. I think I'm really making a fool of my…. ah there we go…_

_'God, she's gorgeous..._

_'Shit, I can't find it! Damn where did I put it? There it is, stupid little thing. I'd rather do it without this, but if she insists..._

_'Ah fuck! Flimsy little thing! How do I get it on? Okay Daniel, stay calm. You can do this._

_'Oh, she's so amazing. Those lips… ah… and hands! Oh thank you very much…_

_'What was that noise? Shit, I think there's somebody out there! Fuck Charlie, if that's you with your bloody camera, I'll kill you, you wanker! I swear! No, 's not Charlie, too tall. Oh piss off, you bloody pervert!_

_'Huh? No! Don't stop! Please don't let her notice him. I don't wanna stop now. Yesss …. ah God…. and you creep, bugger off! That's right! I got better things to do that think about you…_

_'Oh yeah, that's it ….ah, Rose….'_

* * *

Without warning or apparent reason, reality shifted violently to the left. This, in turn, resulted in Rose staggering to the right. With her arms flailing widely, she reached out to the wall next to her to steady herself, only to discover that the wall was in league with reality. It pulled back from her touch, forcing Rose to either lurch further towards it or to fall on her face. Rose chose to lurch.

Resting against the wall she took a moment to catch her breath and watch the pavement wobble and dance in front of her. 'Uuheee,' Maybe she shouldn't have had that last pint. Her stomach chose that moment to give a gurgling rumble and presented the back of her throat with a brief taste of what she had last drunk and the crisps that had gone with it. 'Uhh,' Okay, maybe she shouldn't have had those last four pints. 'Home. Bed. Sleep,' she thought decisively. 'That's the plan.'

It took a few more heartbeats to convince her feet to actually start moving but then she was off. Her head was pleasantly lightweight and filled with warm mush. Her ears were ringing with that drawn-out temporary tinnitus noise that comes from hearing too loud music for too long and generally lets you know that you just had a pretty good night. The monotonous sound was amplified by the contrasting utter silence of the night surrounding her, the only sound being her own footsteps and the occasional distant swoosh of a car.

Judging from the erratic clattering of shoes and the way the world was dancing around her, Rose guessed she wasn't walking all that steadily. Adding her high heels to the alcohol induced vertigo probably didn't help, she mused. She was moving a little bit too fast for her own liking now, practically throwing her self forward with each step. She couldn't stop. Her feet had apparently decided to take charge of the situation and Rose just followed where they went.

She felt the inexplicable urge to giggle. Maybe she should have taken Sue's offer and spent the night at her place, but then the teenager had felt the growing tension between her friend and some guy called Tony, and she had decided that she'd rather brave the fifteen minutes walk home, than be trapped in a room with those lovebirds over night. Besides her mum would throw more than a fit if she woke up in the morning and Rose wasn't home.

Rose's stomach lurched again and a rather unfeminine, prolonged burp escaped from her throat. She giggled wildly. "Ooopps!" Good thing the streets were empty at this time of the night, or morning rather as Rose discovered when she awkwardly checked her watch. Better get home before … suddenly she heard footfalls. Not just her own erratic ones, but rhythmic, heavy footfalls a small distance behind her.

'Shit.' Rose stopped. So did the other pair of feet. 'Double shit.'Why did the streets have to be quite so deserted?

She hurried her own steps, arms stretched at her side to keep herself balanced, but she could hear the strange boots coming closer and she knew that she could never outrun whoever was after her now – not in these heels and especially not in the condition she was in. This left Rose with only one choice – direct confrontation.

Whirling around suddenly, she shouted: "What do you want from me, you creep?" Even though her question might have come out quite a bit more slurred, her stalker would certainly get the idea.

Speaking of ideas, whirling around quickly had not been the most brilliant one. Rose had had to reach out for the signpost next to her to keep from falling over as her vision rocked sideways. Then her eyes focused on the guy in front of her who was only a few metres away now. Tall, dark, but didn't look all that dangerous – more surprised by her outburst. 'Looks can be deceiving,' Rose reminded herself. 'Better not trust a harmless face.'

"Well? What do you want?" she demanded again.

For a moment the guy just stared at her with piercing blue eyes. He then cleared his throat and spoke in a very calm and quiet voice, as if he were talking to a scared animal.

"I thought I saw you drop something. Is this yours?" Slowly stepping closer, he held out a black, open wallet. Inside was a blank white slip of paper.

Rose blinked. No, it wasn't a white slip of paper. Displayed was an ID card with the picture of a blond girl, that was roughly Rose's own age and had similar looks, and the name Jane Smith.

"It's not mine." Rose said, looking up at him. The stranger wasn't bad looking at all, now that she saw him as something other than a potential attacker. If only her head would stop spinning now – damn adrenaline!

"Oh, right. Sorry if I scared you." He put away the wallet into the depth of his leather jacket and studied her face for a moment. "Are you feeling alright?" Apart from the Northern accent, his voice now also held a note of concern.

With difficulty Rose nodded. "Yeah, I just need to …" and then she suddenly bent over without warning and emptied the contents of her stomach onto the stranger's shoes.

"Oh, brilliant, here we go again." The dark man's voice seemed to come from a great distance, even as she felt his arms hold her up and pull back her hair from her face. After that she lost all recollection and collapsed fully into the stranger's waiting arms.

"You're welcome, Rose. Any time for you."

* * *

Maybe he had been going about this the wrong way, the Doctor mused. He had started this "Rose Tyler's life in brief" sightseeing trip with the intention of getting to know her better, to find an even closer connection, but it wasn't working out that way. Instead it made him feel like he was a distant outsider again, always lurking and watching but not allowed to interfere too much.

He missed his Rose, which was stupid really because he was the one who had left her sitting in a bar while he went off and visited her past on a whim. Maybe it was time to go back? This whole experiment felt wrong. A long, drawn-out masochistic experiment – making yourself watch your lover's greatest and worst moments without you. Seeing his Rose in that car with that… that… boy… had nearly been too much for the Doctor. He had had to walk away from it, feeling like a jealous creep. He couldn't believe that Rose's first time had been in the backseat of a car. Didn't the boy she was with have any imagination? For their first time, the Doctor had taken Rose to see the twin sunsets on an exotic beach on a distant planet and then spent hours making love to her under the stars.

The Doctor sighed deeply, staring blankly into the distance. Just thinking of that very special night made him want to… 'Hold on,' he thought himself, 'here she comes.'

A few hundreds yards away the Doctor could see Rose walking briskly through the empty park. It was a grey mid-autumn day, late on a Sunday that had been filled with nothing but occasional showers that ensured that everybody would have stayed safely tucked inside his or her home.

His (future) lover was on her way home and apparently lost in thought, so she did not notice him in the distance. The seventeen year old stepped onto the arched bridge that stretched across the small canal that ran through the park. However, her eyes were focused on a small piece of paper in her hands.

The Doctor bit his lip. Even at seventeen she was beautiful.

Then a sudden gust of wind ripped the paper from Rose's hands and blew it over the bridge's railing. The white slip landed teetering close to the edge of the bridge. The Doctor saw Rose curse and lean over the railing to reach for the small item.

'I just know where this is leading to,' the Doctor thought darkly. 'Why do I have to be so masochistic and make myself actually watch it?'

Predictably, Rose's arm was just a tad bit too short to be able to retrieve the paper. So she leaned over the railing a bit further… and further… and then suddenly lost her balance. With a shriek she went over, striking her head on the way down and plunging into the cold water with a big splash.

The Doctor winced and started running towards the bridge. Apparently this girl had had a knack for finding trouble way before she'd even met him! However, he mustn't interfere, he reminded himself, hard as it may be.

Still, he raced up the bridge with trampling footsteps and leaned over the railing to see where his lover had disappeared. No blond head broke the water's rippling surface and the stream's murky green-brown colour hid what was going on underneath. Rose must have hit her head pretty hard when she fell in.

The Doctor looked around frantically. Where was everybody? Somebody else had to have seen what happened and come to girl's rescue because she hadn't drowned this day! The park was deserted, not a soul in sight.

The Doctor finally understood. Lords, how could he have been so dense? Inwardly cursing himself, he threw himself over the bridge after Rose.

The cold water was a momentary shock, before his twin hearts sped up to compensate for the sudden change in temperature. Downwards he dove, his hands stretched out in search. The water was too dirty to see so he had to rely on touch.

For several terrifying moments he encountered nothing. His lungs were starting to burn. Then his hand mercifully connected with something solid and rough. A jeans clad thigh.

Feeling upwards, the Doctor found an arm. Grabbing what he guessed to be Rose's midsection, he then propelled them both up to the surface. As they broke the water the Gallifreyan greedily sucked in the precious air, but no such reaction came from Rose. Treading water and clutching her close to his chest, the Doctor tried to inspect her face. The girl was limp in his arms, eyes half closed as blood flowed freely from a small wound on her forehead.

With some difficulty the Doctor managed to swim to the shore, pulling the unconscious girl with him, and then dragged them both on land. Turning Rose onto her back, he checked her over more closely. Her body was cold to his touch. The soggy clothes were clinging tightly to her skin. Her eyes were still half closed and her lips had taken on a bluish hue. Her heartbeat was slow and getting weaker by the minute. She wasn't breathing.

"No! Rose!" The Doctor shook her in panic. No reaction whatsoever, even as the girl's head lolled from side to side.

No, he could not have been too late!

The Doctor opened Rose's mouth and checked for any signs of blockage before tilting her head back, pressing his mouth to hers and blowing air into her lungs.

Nothing. He tried again. Lords, why did human bodies have to be so damn frail? Tears ran down his face, freely, unchecked, unnoticed.

"No! Rose, don't do this to me!" He slammed his hands into her lifeless chest in despair, then resumed his breathing routine. As he forced another breath into her, he felt dread rise inside him. He was too late. He had failed her. He had waited for too long.

'Please, I can't lose her!' he begged mentally.

Suddenly Rose's body tensed and trembled as she drew a weak, shaking breath of her own, and then immediately started coughing violently. The Doctor turned her onto her side into the recovery position and watching as Rose spit out a large amount of dirty water. She drew another raspy breath, only to start coughing again. For several minutes she alternated only between coughing and painfully drawing shallow breaths.

She was alive! The Doctor felt like weeping in relief, unaware that he was in fact doing so.

Gathering her close in his arms, he covered her entire face with hot kisses. "Oh, heavens be praised, thank you! Rose, you're alive!"

Shivering with cold and highly confused, Rose weakly started to resist the Doctor's embrace, trying to pull away from him.

"Who are you?" she gasped.

The Doctor froze. Here he was, glad that his one true love was alive and well and wanting nothing but to hold her close – and she didn't even know him.

To her, here and now, he was nothing but a stranger more than twice her own age, who was touching and kissing her without permission when she was powerless to stop him. The Doctor felt vaguely sick. With great difficulty he drew back and composed himself.

"I am nobody," he said tonelessly, "but we need to get you to a hospital to be warmed up and properly checked over."

'And I need to go home,' he added silently, even as he gathered his 'home' in his arms and stood up.

* * *

Rose was just taking the third sip from her cocktail when her TARDIS trained ears detected the whirring warp of a certain returning police box. The woman checked her watch. Two minutes and forty-three seconds – the TARDIS was in prime condition.

Taking another sip from her drink, she idly wondered how long it had been for the Doctor. Unfortunately there was no way for her to tell and her companion might never let her know.

Ah well, she could always force it out of him by teasing him about new (imagined) wrinkles round his face.

Rose watched as the Doctor came round the corner, briskly walking towards her. She had a witty comment lying ready on her tongue for him, but then she saw the look on his face there was something in his eyes that made her stay silent and get out of her chair to greet him.

Without saying a word he just walked up to her and pulled her into his arms for a long embrace, burying his face in her hair. Instinctively Rose just hugged him back fiercely and let him hold her as long as he needed to.

When he eventually drew back, it was only just far enough to press his lips firmly onto hers for a passionate kiss.

"Nice to see you, too," Rose mumbled slightly overwhelmed when they finally drew apart to gasp for air.

"Found what you were looking for then?"

The Doctor gave her a brilliant smile and just hugged her again.

"Yeah, but really I should have known. It was here all along."

 

The End


End file.
